"Two banks told us our student loans made the numbers impossible. Elena found a lender that uses the actual income-driven payment instead of 1% of the balance."
Twelve weeks of credit work, in the order that works
Almost every action on this page only helps if it happens before a hard pull and before a statement date. Done in the right order it is worth a pricing tier. Done in the wrong order it is worth nothing.
Start hereUtilization is roughly 30% of a FICO score and it is the fastest lever you have
Twelve weeks of credit work, in the order that works
Almost every one of these actions only helps if it happens before a hard pull and before a statement date. Run them out of order and you spend the money without moving the score.
120 days out
Pull your own reports and dispute what is wrong
Disputes take 30 days by law and often run longer in practice, so this is the only window where a genuine error can be removed before you apply.
Pull all three bureaus from the free federal site, not from a monitoring app
Dispute duplicated collections, wrong balances and accounts that are not yours
Ask a family member with a long, clean revolving account to add you as an authorised user
Do not dispute a legitimate debt. An account flagged as disputed can stall an automated approval until the flag is removed.
A removed duplicate collection can move a mid-FICO by 10 to 25 points (sample range).
Step 1 of 7
90 days out
Stop opening anything
New tradelines shorten your average account age and add inquiries. Both are scored, and both take months to recover from.
No new credit cards, store cards, car loans or buy-now-pay-later accounts
No co-signing for anybody, including family
If you need a new vehicle, buy it now or wait until after closing, never during
Do not close old cards to tidy up. Closing an old account removes its history and its available limit at the same time.
Avoiding a single new auto loan can preserve 10 to 20 points and roughly 1% of debt-to-income capacity (sample).
Step 2 of 7
60 days out
Get every card under 30% utilization
Utilization is roughly 30% of a FICO score and it is the fastest lever you have. What matters is the balance on the statement date, not the balance after you pay.
Work out each card's statement date and pay the balance down before it, not after
Target under 30% on every individual card, then under 10% overall if you can
Leave a small balance rather than zero on one card so it still reports activity
Do not move all balances onto one card. Individual card utilization is scored as well as the aggregate.
Moving from 75% to under 30% utilization commonly moves a mid-FICO by 20 to 40 points (sample range).
Step 3 of 7
45 days out
Let us run a soft pull and a what-if simulation
We can run a soft credit pull with a rapid rescore simulator that shows what each specific action would do to your mid score before you spend a dollar on it.
Send us the soft-pull authorisation so we can model the scenarios
We identify the two or three actions with the best points-per-dollar return
We confirm whether you are close to a pricing tier break at 660, 680, 700, 720 or 740
Do not pay a credit repair company before this step. Most of what they charge for is either free or already in your plan.
Crossing one pricing tier is worth roughly 0.125% to 0.25% in rate on most panel lenders (sample).
Step 4 of 7
30 days out
Season your assets and stop unusual deposits
Underwriting will read two months of statements line by line. Money that appears without a trail has to be sourced, and money that cannot be sourced cannot be used.
Move all funds for closing into one account and leave them there
Document any gift with a signed letter and the donor's withdrawal trail
Sell the truck, cash out the crypto or collect the reimbursement now, with receipts
Do not accept cash. Cash deposits are the single most common reason funds to close are disallowed.
Sixty days of seasoning removes the sourcing requirement entirely.
Step 5 of 7
14 days out
Do the rapid rescore, then freeze everything
A rapid rescore updates a paid-down balance with the bureaus in a few business days instead of a full billing cycle. It only works with a creditor letter and it has to be ordered through the lender.
Pay the agreed balances and get the creditor confirmation letters
We submit the rapid rescore through the panel lender
Take screenshots of every account balance for the file
Do not make any other change during this window. A new charge lands in the middle of a rescore surprisingly often.
Rapid rescore typically returns updated scores in 3 to 5 business days (sample).
Step 6 of 7
Application day to closing
Change nothing at all
Lenders re-pull credit and re-verify employment shortly before closing. Everything you did in the twelve weeks above can be undone in one afternoon at a furniture store.
No new accounts, no large purchases, no job changes
Keep paying every bill on time, including the ones that do not report
Tell us immediately about anything unexpected, including a bonus
Do not move money between accounts without telling us. Every transfer needs a matching trail on both sides.
Files that hold still close on time. That is the whole trick.
Scores do not price smoothly. They step. Being one point under a break costs the same as being twenty points under it, which is why the last two weeks before an application matter so much.
Mid-FICO tiers and what each one changes
Mid-FICO tier
What it opens or closes
Below 620
Conventional generally closed. FHA through the government specialist on our panel.
620 to 659
Conventional possible, priced hard. FHA usually cheaper on the monthly payment.
660 to 679
Non-QM opens up. Conventional mortgage insurance is still expensive.
680 to 699
Meaningful improvement in both rate adjustments and mortgage insurance factors.
700 to 719
The tier most Albuquerque buyers should be aiming for before applying.
720 to 739
Strong pricing. Jumbo becomes comfortable.
740 and above
Best conventional pricing. Further points add little on most rate sheets.
Tier effects are illustrative. Actual rate adjustments and mortgage insurance factors are set by each lender and insurer, change frequently, and depend on the whole file.
One tierTypically worth 0.125% to 0.25% in rate on our panel, plus a lower mortgage insurance factor (sample)
Six things people believe that cost them money
Closing old cards tidies up my credit
It removes the account's age and its available limit at the same time. Utilization gets worse, not better.
Paying in full every month means zero utilization
The bureaus see the balance on the statement date. Pay before that date, not on the due date.
Checking my own credit lowers my score
A consumer pull is a soft inquiry and does not affect scoring. Shopping several mortgage lenders inside the window counts as one hard inquiry.
I should dispute everything negative
An account flagged as disputed can stall an automated approval until the flag clears. Dispute errors, not legitimate debts.
Credit repair companies can remove accurate items
They cannot. Most of what they charge for is free, and the rest is already in the plan on this page.
A 5 point gain is not worth the effort
It is if it crosses a tier. Pricing steps at 660, 680, 700, 720 and 740, and mortgage insurance factors step with it.
Want the plan for your file?
Send us a soft-pull authorization and we will run the what-if simulator, tell you the two or three actions with the best return, and say plainly whether you should apply now or in ninety days.
The program floors are 580 for FHA and 620 for conventional, but lender overlays often sit higher than the program floor, and pricing improves at 660, 680, 700, 720 and 740. Our credit readiness page shows what moving one tier is typically worth.
Zero on VA and USDA if you are eligible, 3% on conventional for first-time buyers, 3.5% on FHA. Down payment assistance can cover part of it. Closing costs are separate and usually run 2% to 4% of the price (sample range).
Not necessarily. Agency financing works from two years of returns, but a bank statement program qualifies you on 12 or 24 months of deposits instead. It costs more, and for a lot of business owners it is still the right answer.
Typically 90 days, tied to the age of your credit report and income documents. We refresh it for free rather than making you start again.
